Assistant Coach

Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Todd Reirden was not unemployed long. After the Pens hired the WHL’s Mike Johnston as their new coach early on Wednesday, Reirden was fired. A mere eight hours later, Reirden was employed once again, this time by new Capitals coach Barry Trotz. Reirden will take over parts of both Calle Johansson and Blaine Forsythe’s roles with the team.

So who is he? First and foremost: a former player that was in my old video games. Long since retired, Reirden’s been an assistant coach since 2008. Working with the Pens last season, Reirden worked closely with Pittsburgh’s defensemen (ranked 7th in goals in 2013-14) and the power play unit, which — according to the Capitals PR — scored the most power-play goals (164) and posted the highest power-play percentage (22.3%) in the NHL since 2011. That’s exciting.

Pittsburgh has been an elite team for a long, long time with a slew of offensive superstars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. It’ll be interesting to see how much Reirden’s systems and coaching impact the Capitals.